Counter-Currents
2,017 words 
In one county (Franklin), it is claimed 99 people out of 100 are making, or have some connection with, illicit liquor.
-Official Records, (US) National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, 1935
My brother Forrest once said that nothing could kill us, that we could never die.
-Jack Bondurant, Lawless
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8 comments
“In 1919, American lawmakers voted to embark on the ‘Noble Experiment’, and the 18th Amendment came into being”. There’s something to be said for going all in, but I’ve always wished our rulers and would-be rulers would try their experiments on a smaller scale before unleashing them nationwide, especially when they don’t bother asking first!
May I propose a toast to that?
Sounds to me like another case of women not understanding nor caring about the second order effects of their preferences. History has proven them wrong on this, though I can understand not wanting to be around a drunken husband.
There was another try at prohibition. According to Paul Johnson in Modern Times, Norway, in 1919, prohibited spirits and strong wine by a referendum (but not beer), but had a further referendum in 1926, when it was voted against and prohibition dropped.
Yes, women. The women’s movement also got prostitution cut back in cities, and had they not done so, might another area for the underworld expansion been denied?
I assume Lawless is a TV or Netflix show. Since I don’t use TV, I’m guessing. Back to my book of the month…Gibbon and the Roman empire’s decline.
A boring movie, with lackluster performances by all the actors involved, save that of Guy Pierce, an actor who is underused in Hollywood. A much better watch would be Bonnie and Clyde starring Warren Beaty and Faye Dunaway.😎
You should be a film reviewer, mate. You have the honesty for it. Everyone loves Bonnie and Clyde, or however you spell it. Who’s that bloke who plays their getaway driver? Funny nose and curly hair. He is one of those actors who is in most 70s movies but you can never remember his name. I refuse to Google. It’s a prosthetic memory. Like spectacles.
The 18th Amendment only prohibited manufacture and sale of alcohol. Consumption was still legal. Maybe lawmakers were thinking ahead to the time they could benefit in some way from the sale when the temperance mania subsided.
There are still 17 ‘control states’ where the state government has the monopoly on the sale of hard liquor. These remaining tend to be more conservative, culturally. They have limited hours so I guess it does discourage drinking somewhat.
And thanks, for sharing some of the spotlight on gangsterism with the native Anglos. The Italians have been hogging it for too long.
The Bonnie and Clyde actor is Michael J. Pollard. He hit it big, was on stuff, then fizzled out,
I liked Bonnie and Clyde, but it did glamorize what were a couple of two bit outlaws. Also interesting in the film when Bonnie and Clyde kidnap a couple, the man is Gene Wilder.
There were string of Bonnie and Clyde like films after it came out, and they were mostly bad, as all copycat films are. I remember when Easy Rider came out and made millions, studios gave anyone with long hair and a camera a budget to make a biker film. They all sank.
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